Ros-Lehtinen tweaks the GAO, gets tweaked herself

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's suggestion this week that it's "unsettling" to have the Government Accountability Office weigh in on the Iraq war is earning her some blogging brickbats. Ros-Lehtinen has been a consistent supporter of the war effort; the GAO report suggested the Iraqi government has failed to meet a majority of political or military goals.

Think Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, writes that the Miami Republican has "had no problem citing the work of the GAO...or enlisting the GAO's resources to pursue her agenda. It's only when she doesn't like the agencies' conclusions that she finds fault with the work of the office."

VIdeo of Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House International Relations Committee, saying that she finds the process "unsettling" is posted here.

"As if we would have a GAO report on World War II ... and base our conclusions on that," she said. "I'm not saying that you're bean counters and I'm not saying that you're out of your realm of expertise, but I just feel uncomfortable listening to a report by the Government Accountability Office about our war effort...It just doesn't seem to fit."

GAO Comptroller David Walker defended the agency's work, saying it was "eminently qualified to do the work."